Holiday

So we're into our second post-holiday week and life is straining to press back in but we're on the defensive, one weapon we armed ourselves with was taking the time to talk about what we'd learnt from our week at Greenhill.

1. Family are important - sounds obvious but the reality of this grew and so did our realisation that over the last two years we'd gone from visiting too much and not having enough time for us, to becoming reclusive. As Mr Flower put it 'sometimes our family infuriate me but I realise how much I love and miss them'. Working with that infuriation doesn't happen by refusing to engage with it.

2. Holidays are important - I don't think I ever got how being in a different location can take you out of habits and thought paterns so effectively, we're going to do it more.

3. That I'm not who I thought I was - it's easy to get annoyed with others pigeon holing us but sometimes we're our own worst restraint. Sometimes we find ourselves in new boxes too - apparently I'm naughty, who's have guessed ;-O!!

4. That it's really easy to let work crowd life out - we need to be so much more that just what we achieve at work, we need to celebrate that but also have room to find other us's!

5. That it's really important to 'mark our days' - I preached on this a while back and hold it as so important, this week just reinforced that. Each day is a precious gift and is to be lived in full whether that's the pain and misery or joy and celebration. When we reach important achievements either in who we are or what we do it's important to mark that. I really thank my family for instilling a sense of excitement and celebration in me and Uncle and Auntie Flower played a big part in that along with Mum, for it's in these moments that we experience the fullness of what life should be and total love. Life is dull and lacking wonder without these gifts. I guess it's kind of finding the sacred in the ordinary too and if our faith means anything we should be doing that.

There were other things too like how amazing nature is, how God blesses us throught the people we meet, how my brother has the best ability to laugh at himself and how I can learn from that, how beautiful and fragile my Mum is, how we're made to be in community and how much love can be so strong that it hurts...I've still got loads to learn, the lessons are percolating and they're more weapons against the wrong agenda life seduces us into.

Another weapon will be seeing some photos and I can't wait!